Mechanic

AoE

Area of Effect, usually shortened to AoE, describes a skill component that applies to targets inside an area instead of selecting only one target. The area can be a circle, cone, line, ring, or another shape defined by the skill.
0.5.4d
Current data

Catalog version 0.5.4d

No direct 0.5 patch change is linked to this page. The displayed values are current for catalog version 0.5.4d.

What AoE does

Current rules

Check the exact component and its displayed radius, length, width, or shape. Area of Effect changes the size of the affected region, while Area Damage applies only to damage dealt by an area component. A skill with several components can have both area and non-area damage.

Area component
The AoE tag identifies a skill with at least one area component. It does not prove that every Hit, Projectile, damage-over-time effect, or secondary effect from that skill is area damage.
Shape and measurement
The skill defines the shape and measurement that matter, such as radius, cone length, wave length, or impact area. Increased Area of Effect changes that region rather than the distance from which the skill can be targeted.
Target-sized origin
When an area originates from a target hit by a skill, that target's size is added to the area radius.
Area Damage
Area Damage modifiers apply to damaging components whose damage is delivered through an area. They do not automatically scale a non-area Projectile or Strike merely because another component of the same skill has the AoE tag.
Overlapping areas
Several areas created by one use do not automatically hit the same target several times. The skill's own overlap, repeat, and simultaneous-hit rules decide whether more than one component can hit.
Dodge roll
Dodge roll does not grant avoidance against Area of Effect attacks. Positioning outside the affected area remains the reliable response unless another defensive rule applies.

Common Area of Effect components

5 cases
01
Impact or explosion

A Hit occurs in the stated radius around an impact point, target, corpse, or Projectile collision.

Related: Hit, Projectile
02
Cone, wave, or line

The skill uses a directional area. Read its length and width instead of treating it as a circular radius.

03
Ground area

A persistent region applies its stated effect while targets remain inside or when its own interval occurs.

Related: Duration, Persistent
04
Area around a hit target

The target's size contributes to the radius when the area originates from that target.

05
Minion or Totem area

The effect still belongs to the Minion or Totem component that creates it. Player, Minion, and Totem predicates remain separate.

Related: Minion, Totem

Limits and exceptions

4 rules
  • Area of Effect is not the same as Area Damage. A non-damaging area can gain size without gaining damage.
  • Increasing area size does not increase targeting range, Projectile travel distance, or the distance at which a Strike can select an enemy unless the skill explicitly connects those values.
  • A Projectile that explodes can have a Projectile component and an area component. Check each effect line instead of applying every modifier to both.
  • Overlap behavior is skill-specific. Do not multiply damage by the visible number of circles without a source-backed simultaneous-hit rule.